The present invention relates to bag packs of stackable bags, commonly referred to as T-shirt bags, and a system for easily dispensing successive stackable bags from the bag pack.
Typically, checkout lines of grocery and department stores utilize paper or plastic bags for bagging the grocery and store items. To expedite the bagging process, individual plastic bags, neatly stacked in a bag pack for suspension on a bag rack are commonly used.
The bag rack usually has two outwardly extending, laterally spaced support arms and a center hook supporting the bags in the bag pack. The individual bags have laterally spaced handles with handle apertures extending therethrough for receiving the support arms and a removable center mount for receiving the center hook. Pin welds can be used to hold the individual bags together in the bag pack.
In operation, with the bag pack suspended by the support rack, the bagger prepares a bag for loading by pulling a front wall of the front bag in the bag pack away from the bag pack, separating the front wall from the center mount and any pin welds. In this position, the support arms which extend through the handle apertures support the bag during loading. Upon completion of loading the bag, the bag is removed from the support arms and the subsequent bag is pulled open on the support arms by the bagger. Such a bag pack dispensing system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 33,264 to Baxley, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,674 issued to Kuklies, et al.
Because of the pin welds used to hold the bags in the bag pack and/or static charge between the individual bags in the bag pack, the bags in the bag pack are sometimes difficult to individually separate and open. Thus, the bagger's time is wasted grappling for the next bag. Accordingly, to expedite the bagging process, it has become important to make each subsequent individual bag of the bag pack open upon removal of the previous bag.
Prior art bag packs have attempted to solve this problem by attaching the rear wall of each bag in the bag pack to the front wall of the successive bag in the bag pack. Thus, when a bag is removed from the bag rack, the following bag is opened on the bag rack. For example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 33,264 to Baxley, et al., an adhesive is used to attach the rear wall of each bag to the front wall of a successive bag. However, this approach has had limited success since frequently the adhesive does not easily disengage, causing subsequent bags to be pulled off of the bag rack before the adhesive bond is broken, or the adhesive bond breaks prior to the next bag being opened on the bag rack.
Accordingly, a need presently exists for an easy, quick, and reliable system to cause subsequent bags on a bag rack to be individually opened upon removal of the previous bag from the rack, thereby preventing the difficulty of opening the following bag.